Follow Us

Menu
Log in
Log in


News

  • April 09, 2021 9:06 AM | Anonymous

    The American College of Surgeons Division of Advocacy and Health Policy, in collaboration with the College's General Surgery Coding and Reimbursement Committee, has released two in a series of webinars describing proper implementation of office and other outpatient evaluation and management codes, which were extensively updated for 2021.

    Major Changes for 2021 Office E/M Coding, Part 1: A Surgeon's Guide to Prepare for New Guidelines and Avoid Claims Denials outlines revisions made to the office/outpatient E/M code set by the Current Procedural Terminology Editorial Panel, including new requirements related to history and physician examination, physician time, and medical decision-making (MDM) associated with E/M visits.

    Major Changes for 2021 Office E/M Coding, Part 2: Implementation Tips describes proper office/outpatient E/M code level selection and documentation using MDM for common general surgery patient scenarios. 

    To access the free webinar recordings and download the slides used during each presentation, visit the ACS Office/Outpatient E/M Coding Changes Resource Center. Contact Lauren Foe, Senior Associate for Regulatory Affairs, at lfoe@facs.org with questions.

  • April 08, 2021 9:19 AM | Anonymous

    The legislature has reached a final agreed upon budget of $212 billion (largest budget to date).  The budget sharply increases spending, directing much of the new money to schools, health care, renters and small landlords, as well as to undocumented immigrant workers affected by the pandemic. Democratic lawmakers said the budget is meant to help boost the state's nascent recovery and aid those who were severely impacted by the crisis. Republicans blasted the plan for its tax increases, and argued it should have done more to aid small businesses and veterans. The new taxes include a corporate franchise tax increase and personal income tax increases for high income earners, which are estimated to raise $4.3B in additional State revenue. This will place New York above California as the highest taxing state in the country.

     

     MSSNY Summary:

     State Budget Finalized
    This week the Legislature was completing passage of a $212 billion Budget package that produced several “victories” for organized medicine following months of extensive advocacy by MSSNY working together with county and specialty medical societies. 

     These issues include:

    Excess Malpractice Insurance Program Extended

    The final State Budget provides full funding for an additional year for the Excess Medical Malpractice Insurance program, which provides 17,000 physicians with a bonus $1 million/$3 million layer of liability insurance above the primary layer purchased by a physician.  The State Budget restores the proposed $51 million cut in program funding and deleted an Executive Budget proposal strongly opposed by medicine to impose a 50% physician cost share requirement, which would have resulted in the imposition of thousands to tens of thousands of dollars of new costs on these 17,000 enrolled physicians.

    Physician Due Process Protected

    The final State Budget deleted several provisions proposed in the Executive Budget  to substantially curtail physician due process rights when a complaint has been filed against them with the OPMC.  The adverse provisions that were deleted included permitting the Commissioner to publicly disclose information regarding a complaint filed against a physician and creating a nebulous standard for imposing a summary suspension prior to the conclusion of disciplinary proceedings.

    Pharmacy Scope Changes Rejected 

    The final State Budget deleted several provisions opposed by MSSNY that would have expanded the scope of pharmacists, including proposals to greatly expand the physician-pharmacy Collaborative Drug Therapy program, permitted pharmacist self-ordering of lab tests, and significantly expanded the number of the immunizations that can be performed by pharmacists.

    Essential Plan Enhancements

    The final Budget contains provisions supported by MSSNY to eliminate the premium requirements for the over 800,000 New Yorkers enrolled in the State’s Essential Plan, as well as providing bonus pool funding for physicians and other care providers participating with these plans. 

    Protect Ability to Apply for E-Prescribing Waivers 

    The final State Budget deletes the Executive Budget proposal opposed by MSSNY to eliminate the ability for physicians and other prescribers to apply for a year-to-year waiver of e-prescribing requirements (availed by over 2,000 prescribers across the State of New York). 

    Protect Medicaid “Prescriber Prevails” 

    The final Budget deletes the Executive Budget proposal opposed by MSSNY to remove the statutory protection for the prescriber’s determination (not State Medicaid’s) to prevail for a medication prescribed to a patient covered by Medicaid.

    No-Fault De-credentialing Rejected

    The final Budget deletes the Executive Budget proposal MSSNY had raised concerns with to expand the power of the Superintendent of Financial Services to prohibit certain physicians from submitting claims for No-Fault services.

    Telehealth Expansion

    The final State Budget includes an expansion of site locations where telehealth services can both provided and received.  Importantly, it deletes a provision opposed by MSSNY advocacy that would have established an “interstate compact” of out of state health professionals to provide health care services to New York patients.  Unfortunately, the final Budget also did not include “parity” for the payment of telehealth services.

    Ensure Collaborative Practice by Nurse Practitioners with Physicians

    The final Budget includes a provision to extend for an additional year – until June 30, 2022 – the existing law permitting certain nurse practitioners to practice without a written collaborative agreement with a physician provided they have proof of “collaborative arrangements” with physicians in the same specialty practiced by the NP.  MSSNY has advocated for much stronger collaboration requirements for nurse practitioners in order to protect patients, however, with the sunset of the existing law coming up in two months, legislation (A.1535/S.3056) has also been introduced and strongly opposed by MSSNY that would repeal the requirements to even maintain proof of these collaborative arrangements. (DIVISION OF GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS)

  • March 09, 2021 2:41 PM | Anonymous

    Legislation in the New York legislature, A.1943 (Simon)/S.24(Kaplan), would require all private group and individual health plans to cover medically necessary services including habilitative and reconstructive services as a result of a congenital anomaly; the legislation includes inpatient and outpatient services, adjunctive needs and procedures for secondary conditions and follow-up treatment. 

    Insurance companies have regularly denied follow-up or corrective procedures, claiming that they are cosmetic in nature–which fails to recognize the medical conditions of these patients. Delays in medically necessary care can negatively impact a child’s developmental milestones and coverage denials of a child’s reconstructive surgery, can result in families turning to safety net programs for coverage or paying out of pocket.

    A.1943/S.24 recognizes the importance of ensuring access to the care and services necessary due to a congenital anomaly, such as cleft lip and palate, skeletal and maxillofacial abnormalities, facial paralysis, microtia, hypodontia, and craniosynostosis.

    Ask your assembly member and senator to co-sponsor and pass A.1943/S.24.

    Use the pre-written letter to send a message to your legislators today. https://facs.quorum.us/campaign/31038/

  • February 18, 2021 3:37 PM | Anonymous

    As COVID-19 cases continue to rise and fall across all regions of the United States, practices must adapt and adjust their operations according to regional mandates, which can transition overnight with the shifting environment. Since there is no one-size-fits-all approach to operating a medical practice during the pandemic, The Doctors Company has developed a checklist to help you manage your practice.

    The checklist can be adapted to your practice’s needs.
    https://www.thedoctors.com/articles/managing-healthcare-practice-operations-during-covid-19/

  • February 04, 2021 3:39 PM | Anonymous

    As healthcare leaders around the country make decisions to guide the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, renowned physician experts Robert M. Wachter, MD, and Ashish K. Jha, MD, MPH, discussed how the pandemic is reshaping the future of medicine and healthcare delivery during a virtual meeting hosted by the TDC Group of companies on February 3.

    In this article, find their answers to key questions regarding the vaccine.
    https://www.thedoctors.com/articles/covid-19-vaccine-questions-answered-by-virtual-panel-of-healthcare-experts/

  • January 14, 2021 1:45 PM | Anonymous

    This is a reminder that the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Nominating Committee of the Fellows (NCF) and the Nominating Committee of the Board of Governors (NCBG) are currently accepting nominees for Officers-Elect and Board of Regents positions.

    These leadership positions include:

    Officers-Elect

    The 2021 NCF will select nominees for the three Officer-Elect positions of the ACS:

     

    • President-Elect
    • First Vice-President-Elect
    • Second Vice-President-Elect

    Entities such as ACS Chapters, surgical specialty societies, ACS Advisory Councils, and ACS Committees who wish to provide a letter of nomination must provide a description of their selection process and the total list of applicants reviewed.

    Please review the Criteria for Consideration and Further Details sections on the ACS website before submitting nominations.  

    The deadline for submitting nominations is Friday, February 19, 2021.

    Nominations must be submitted to officerandbrnominations@facs.org. If you have any questions, please contact Emily Kalata, staff liaison for the NCF, at 312-202-5360 or ekalata@facs.org.

     

    Board of Regents

    The 2021 NCBG will select nominees for six pending vacancies on the Board of Regents to be filled at Clinical Congress 2021.

    Entities such as ACS Chapters, surgical specialty societies, ACS Advisory Councils, and ACS Committees, who wish to provide a letter of nomination must provide at least two nominees, and a description of their selection process, along with the total list of applicants reviewed. 

    Please review the Criteria for Consideration and Further Details sections on the ACS website before submitting nominations.

    The deadline for submitting nominations is Friday, February 19, 2021.

    Nominations must be submitted to officerandbrnominations@facs.org. If you have any questions, please contact Emily Kalata, staff liaison for the NCBG, at 312-202-5360 or ekalata@facs.org.
  • December 17, 2020 3:56 PM | Anonymous

    A copy of today's NYS DOH Healthcare Provider webinar is now available.


  • December 14, 2020 4:13 PM | Anonymous

    As healthcare providers prepare to distribute COVID-19 vaccines, many face questions regarding best practices for vaccine administration, as well as documentation. Answers to the frequently asked questions below will help your practice protect patients and staff while mitigating liability risks.

    > Learn More

  • December 11, 2020 4:10 PM | Anonymous

    On December 2, 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a Final Rule that includes important changes to the federal physician self-referral law, commonly referred to as the “Stark Law.”  In general, the Stark Law prohibits a physician from making a referral for certain “designated health services” (DHS) to an entity with which the physician (or an immediate family member) has a financial arrangement, unless an exception applies.  Concurrently with the Stark Law changes, the Office of Inspector General also issued new rules under the Federal Anti-kickback Statute, which will be addressed in separate client alerts.
    > Read complete alert

About us

Uniting efforts to improve the quality of surgical practice in NYS and care to surgical patients.

Become a member

Elevate your career and join your local Chapter today!

Contact us

New York Chapter American College of Surgeons
150 State Street, Floor 4, Albany NY 12207  Phone: (518) 953-5401 |  Fax: (518) 514-1424

Powered by Wild Apricot Membership Software